BoSox Crush Rockies In Game 1

BOSTON -- Josh Beckett struck out nine over seven innings and the Red Sox banged out 17 hits in a 13-1 rout of the Colorado Rockies in Game 1 of the World Series.

The Rockies entered a rainy Fenway Park with a big layoff, 10 straight wins and victories in 21 of their last 22 games. Their run included sweeps of Philadelphia and Arizona in the playoffs, but that all went out the window in the first inning, as Dustin Pedroia homered to lead off against young lefty Jeff Francis (0-1), who was chased after surrendering 10 hits and six runs in four innings.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez each had three hits and two RBI. Kevin Youkilis and Ramirez scored three times. Pedroia, Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew each drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who are trying for their second title in four years. They had nine extra base hits, including eight doubles.

The Red Sox outscored Cleveland, 30-5 in winning the final three games of the ALCS and that trend continued Wednesday night as they established a team record for runs in a World Series game.

Boston scored three times in the first, and already ahead 6-1, exploded for seven runs - all with two outs - in the fifth.

Beckett (1-0) immediately went to work by fanning the first four batters he faced before allowing doubles to Garrett Atkins and Troy Tulowitzki in the second inning. The 2003 World Series MVP with Florida ended the night by scattering six hits and allowing one run, while walking one.

During this postseason, Beckett has a 4-0 record, 1.20 ERA and 35 strikeouts against just two walks in 30 innings.

Franklin Morales was pounded for six hits and seven runs in two-thirds of a frame, as the Red Sox sent 13 men to the plate in the fifth, a half-inning that took 34 minutes to complete and included six hits, four walks and a balk. Ryan Speier walked three straight batters with the bases full to cap the scoring, before Matt Herges got Youkilis to fly out to leave them loaded.

The Rockies completed their sweep of Arizona in the NL Championship Series on October 15, but they were held to six hits and struck out 12 times in the first World Series game in franchise history. The Red Sox completed their rally to beat Cleveland in seven games in the ALCS with a Sunday night victory.

Game 2 is Thursday night at Fenway Park with rookie Ubaldo Jimenez taking the mound for the Rockies. Curt Schilling, with a 10-2 career postseason mark, pitches for Boston.

The 12-run winning margin was the largest for the opener of a World Series, eclipsing an 11-run spread the White Sox had against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959 and the same amount the Braves had versus the Yankees in 1996. The White Sox and Braves both lost those series.